Is there a way to transfer data, e.g. a file, from a web site directly to an online storage faciliity? In other words, I want to transfer the data without first downloading it to my hard drive.

For example, say there's a file something.xyz located on a web site www.something.com. Instead of downloading the file to my hard drive, I want to transfer the file to another place online, such as Yahoo Briefcase. Is there a way to do this, or is there some web site out there that provides such a service (preferably for free)?

In the old days, I used to do be able to do this when I had a shell account from my ISP and a little storage space. I would use something like 'lynx', for example, to access the link and save the file onto my account, not my hard drive. So basically, I'm trying to find out other ways of doing this.

Have you tried entering the full URL of the file when you are on the Yahoo upload screen ?
This maybe all you need to do.

I doubt if its possible the way you describe. It would depend on the interface for the individual sites. Generally, files are sent across the Net using either http or ftp. Both methods require some client software on either the sending or receiving PC to manage the transfer.

I suppose you could write a utility that uses either FTP or HTTP and logs into each server and then does the transfer. But I doubt if you could do it just through a browser alone.

Yes, that was helpful. If anything, I was only wondering if there was something obvious out there that I missed. So it's just a matter of finding a storage provider that allows transfers. Writing the utility you mentioned is a little bit over my head, but I love a challenge. :)

I have the best solution for you. Try this online storage service.

It has a browser based web application called “Web-Manager”, where you have a feature known as “webload files”.

Using this feature, you can backup your files from another web location safely to your online storage account. All you need to do is enter the URL of the files which needs backup and they will be automatically backed up to your online account.